Sheffield Children’s Hospital to provide internships to young people with learning difficulties

Sheffield Children’s Hospital has partnered with Choices College to offer a range of 12-week placements to young people with learning difficulties, disabilities, or autism.

Jenny Featherstone, Community Team Leader at the Ryegate Children’s Centre, was one staff member who expressed interest in taking one of the interns. 

She said: “As a service working primarily with children and young people with disabilities, we know how important it is to have employers in Sheffield who are inclusive, adaptive, and welcoming towards employees who are neurodiverse or have a learning disability.”

Since January, she and her team have been mentoring Aisha, who has had a positive impact on the service. 

Aisha said: “My team have really supported me. “I have a list of tasks to do during the week and that helps me keep on track. Every day is different, but I’ve really enjoyed everything, especially helping my team with hydrotherapy.”

Jenny added: “I’ve had so many conversations with colleagues in the Therapy Block who say that having Aisha on placement with us has been an incredibly positive experience for them, and for our service users.”

Three other young people have been interning across Sheffield Children’s Hospital in a range of roles, including Shimyla, who has worked in the post room. 

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She said: “If we have any issues, we can always have a chat with members of the team, which makes me feel really comfortable. We can then work together to sort out the problem.

“If I needed a bit more help with sorting some letters, I really feel like I can ask my colleagues so that we can make sure that every letter gets to wherever it needs.”

Alongside their placements, the interns also attend Choices College weekly, which is a specialist college supporting the employability of young adults, aged 16-24.

Sheffield Children’s plans to welcome back interns again next term.